A student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst was arrested on Friday night after allegedly punching a Jewish student at a peaceful protest on campus calling for the return of civilians taken hostage by Hamas. The event, organized by UMass Hillel, had also called for a “safe campus climate for all students,” the organization said in a statement. As the event was ending, a student walked through the crowd and started “aggressively giving people the middle finger,” the statement added. “After the event had concluded and event security had left, the same student returned to the site of the event and punched a Jewish student holding an Israeli flag, then took the flag and spit on it.” An email from college officials to students on Monday said the alleged victim was not injured and that the suspect’s bail conditions prohibit them from returning to campus. The email called the incident “deeply disturbing” as well as “reprehensible, illegal, and unacceptable.”
